Born Beneath the Burning Stars (Elijah Belov Lv. 11)
((Note: Shinsou agreed to review this update -- thanks!))
Level 11
Name: Elijah Belov
Age: 34
Appearance: Unremarkable at a glance, Elijah rarely leaves an impression on passersby. He is a man of slightly above average height for a Salvarian, and average breadth of shoulders. His hair is mousy brown with faint redness in the sun, and his skin is the weather-beaten pale expected of a northerner.
Under closer scrutiny, however, his features suggest highborn heritage. His chin, jaw, and cheekbones are all a bit stronger, more pronounced, than his otherwise average appearance suggests. His build, while slender compared to a physical laborer or warrior, is wiry and strong from years of hardship and fighting. A once youthful face is marked by several indistinct scars, with more pronounced ones visible on his forearms when not covered.
Demeanor: Generally aloof and soft-spoken, Elijah does not share much about himself with people he doesn’t know, instead relying on vague hints or wisdom. With half of Salvar wanting his head, he rarely operates under his real identity.
Skills:
Swordplay -- Master
Arcane Theory -- Master
Rituals -- Expert
Astrology -- Expert
Unarmed Combat -- Expert
General Academics -- Expert
Military Tactics -- Expert
Mathematics -- Adept
Sailing -- Novice
Horse Riding -- Novice
Oratory -- Expert
Stealth -- Novice
Metalworking -- Apprentice
Culinary Arts -- Expert
Linguistics -- Expert (Tradespeak, Salvic, Elven, Dwarfish, and Drakari)
~~~
Abilities and Powers
Beneath the Sign of the Dragon
Long before the Tap, before the first gods first trod upon the earth, there were the stars. For thousands of years, mortals have mapped the firmament, assigning names and meaning to its constellations. These names have power, should one possess the will and intellect to reach into the heavens and grasp it.
At the pinnacle of astrological power sit the “high constellations,” often called Zodiac signs for their spiritual, cultural, and metaphysical significance. Elijah has mastered the Sign of the Dragon and its subordinate constellations. With the power of the stars, he unleashes great and terrible power upon the earth.
Through the Sign of the Dragon, Elijah can perform the magic listed below:
*Breath -- Pyromancy. Elijah is one of the most dangerous fire sorcerers in existence, able to launch crossbow speed fiery projectiles at rapid speed, hurl fireballs that explode in a 15’ radius, emit continuous streams of fire that could envelop several men at once, launch blazing shockwaves in any direction that can topple mounted knights, and project concentrated flame and heat that can blast through stone, steel, and more. Flames conjured with this sign can linger for a full minute without external fuel.
With full effort, Elijah can use this Sign alone to cut swathes across a battlefield, incinerate mighty monsters, and overwhelm multiple lesser sorcerers. Unfortunately, this level of careless exertion comes at great cost. He will become exhausted after about five minutes of this (though is able to perform proportionately longer if he paces out his efforts), and also runs the risk of burning himself. Furthermore, his most powerful pyromantic feats require complete focus, leaving him vulnerable to attacks. Lesser uses of this power can be multitasked more easily, however.
((***Other than Breath, which uses its own resources, all signs draw from the same limit. Elijah can cast thirty total Signs per day, with fast/instant casting versions counting as half a use.***))
*Scale -- Impenetrable Skin. With a spell, Elijah can harden his skin to varying degrees -- stone, steel, mithril -- all while maintaining its supple quality. To harden the skin of his entire body takes about one minute of focus per tier, and lasts twenty minutes. If he spends ten minutes per tier, he can make the enchantment last two hours. Alternatively, he can apply the full effect (mithril) to a small part of his body, about twice the size of his hand, in an instant. In this case, its effects last only ten seconds, degrading by one tier each five seconds after that until it fades -- and once gone, the instant version cannot be applied to the same area for four hours.
*Fang -- Blood-Boiling Strike. Elijah infuses his weapon with the dragon’s essence. While this spell is active, the ensorcelled weapon can pierce armor of one material tier higher than the weapon itself. Furthermore, any strike that breaks the skin of an enemy bursts into flames, charring flesh, boiling blood, and inflicting crippling pain onto the victim. To make matters worse, instead of cauterizing the wound, it makes it bleed faster. Normal activation requires one minute of focused meditations, with effects lasting twenty minutes. A fast activation takes about a second and lasts for a single attack, which must be made within five seconds. A long casting requires a ten minute meditation, but applies the effect for two hours.
*Wing -- Wind and Loft. Drawing the constellation called Fabir’s Wings, Elijah can call the wind itself to him. While under this Sign, he can run at a top speed of 50mph, leap 50 foot spans or heights of 20 feet, and can control the speed of his falls -- able to plummet faster than a stone or as slow as a feather as desired. Normal activation takes about one minute and lasts twenty minutes. Like many of his Signs, Elijah can perform special fast or long castings. An instant casting lasts twenty seconds, with a one-hour cooldown time. A ten minute casting lasts two hours.
*Tail -- Monstrous Speed. Like the dragon’s swift, snapping tail, Elijah gains blinding speed, agility, and grace. His base dexterity is excellent, with acrobatic agility on par with a skilled dancer or tumbler, and even greater hand finesse, with ability on par with both a master fencer and a skilled surgeon (albeit without the training). While actively under this Sign, his prowess multiplies immensely, allowing him to accomplish such feats as catching crossbow bolts out of the air, running along tightropes or bamboo poles with ease, running along walls, and performing supernatural feats of acrobatics. Standard casting takes one minute and lasts twenty. Fast casting takes five seconds and lasts thirty seconds. Long casting takes ten minutes and lasts two hours.
*Claw -- Might of the Wyrm. Through talon and sinew, the dragon fills Elijah with its strength. His natural strength is above average, on par with a physical laborer, as befitting a man with such an active lifestyle. While under this spell’s effect, however, he can lift immense weights, such as a fully grown draft horse. Physical attacks powered by this spell deal crippling damage. This also reinforces his bones and tendons, though not proportionately, so he CAN hurt himself if he’s not careful. Normal activation requires a one minute casting time and lasts twenty minutes. A fast casting takes five seconds and lasts twenty seconds. A long casting requires ten minutes and lasts two hours. Uniquely to this Sign, Elijah may perform an additional fast activation that stacks on top of a standard or long activation, doubling the effects of the spell for the twenty second duration. However, doing this ends all activations of this spell and has a two-hour cooldown. Furthermore, this extreme usage causes physical harm to Elijah via strain on his joints, muscles, and tendons.
*Heart -- Draconic Endurance. The dragon’s heart beats in Elijah’s chest, infusing his blood and body with vigor. In his neutral state, he possesses immense resistance to illness and exhaustion, allowing him to perform feats such as a forced march for days straight. While actively under this Sign, his stamina reaches superhuman levels. He can burn poison and disease from his body, resist even the most extreme temperatures, and sprint at top speed for hours, among other feats. Standard activation of this Sign takes about a minute and requires full concentration for as long as its effects remain -- he might do this to resist an unexpected poison. The Long Casting requires an hour of meditation and ritual, but then lasts for an entire day.
*Eye -- the Ancients’ Sight. Peering through the drake’s eyes, Elijah sees all. Under this Sign, his natural eyesight is enhanced dramatically, allowing him to see clearly at all levels of light and to pick out tiny details at great distances. Even the most subtle threads and currents of magic are revealed to him, from curses to enchantments to active spellcasting, all visible if he focuses. So potent is his sight that this sign grants him a mild precognition by peering into the very intentions of his foes. This allows him to predict many attacks a half-second before they happen -- though there are countermeasures that can confound this if the enemy is aware of what is happening. Standard casting takes one minute and lasts thirty. Fast casting takes five seconds and lasts two minutes. Long casting takes ten minutes and lasts three hours.
~
Other Signs:
While the Zodiac signs, including the Dragon, originated with Raiaeran astrologers and are widely known throughout the known world, other potent constellations were mapped by other cultures. While these signs lack the overwhelming might of the Dragon (as far as Elijah has discovered so far, anyway), they can be harnessed for many useful spells.
*Shield of Kestov -- Force Barrier. A Salvarian constellation, this sign projects a shimmering magical barrier in a half-sphere large enough to cover two adults. The barrier can block projectiles and melee attacks, as well as magical attacks relying on kinetic, electrical, or heat energy. It can withstand the equivalent of ten crossbow shots before it shatters, though its integrity recovers by half every five seconds if not further damaged. The first activation of an encounter is always instant. Any subsequent activations, after the first is broken, take five seconds.
*Shears of Shakhara -- Arcane Disruption. Named for the mythological Fallien witch, Shakhara of Severed Threads, this Sign cuts the threads of metaphysical reality, of magic. Using this spell, Elijah can completely disrupt the casting of weaker enemy spells. Stronger spells or those woven by exceptional skilled casters can break through with great effort, but their casting time and cpst is doubled. Activation this Sign is effectively instant, but requires maintained focus for the duration of the enemy spell to continue its effect. Additionally, this Sign can be used on persistent enchantments, curses, and the like, but typically requires significant studying of the enchantment and much more time investment (sometimes hours or even days), and some enchantments are too powerful or complex for even Elijah to sever.
*Hurmgir’s Anvil -- Alchemical Sorcery. An ancient constellation from the dwarves of Kachuck, a race not known for stargazing. These stars are said to be the resting place of a great ancestor’s anvil, which was shattered into pieces during a forgotten war and cast into the heavens. This Sign grants Elijah powers akin to “material alchemy,” allowing him to transmute or inflict entropy on inorganic, earth-based solids. Stone, sand, mundane metals, and the like. He can either degrade the material, causing metal to rust or weaken, or transmute it into a volatile, highly combustible substance. This spell lasts for as long as Elijah maintains complete concentration, and can affect approximately one cubic foot of substance per ten seconds. Factors such as depth, density, and distance can hinder this proportionately.
~
Innate Power -- Beyond his command of Astrological Sorcery, Elijah possesses, through self-taught and discipline, certain occult attributes.
*Will Like the Deep Ocean -- Elijah possesses a strength of mind and spirit nigh-unmatched among living mortals. He can resist the worst pain, whether from injury or prolonged torture. Furthermore, he can withstand all but the most powerful supernatural mental influence (such as from actual deities or elder demons). His focus and concentration is nigh-unbreakable, allowing him to cast three spells simultaneously and ignore most attempts to disrupt his spellcasting.
*Pyroaffinity -- The first magic Elijah learned was to control fire. He has studied and mastered this element for most of his life, and become one with it. He possesses the innate ability to control and manipulate existing flames, reshaping, redirecting it to his will. With focus, he can concentrate any live flame within 30 yards to double its heat, or expand it to double its size. He can change its direction, shape, and color to anything his imagination can conjure. Furthermore, his affinity with fire means it will not harm him as easily. He is not resistant to flames through this ability, per se, but fire has a difficult time touching him unless he wills it to.
~~~
Items
Panoply:
(Magic gear)
Sword Forged of Ancient Ice and Elder Blood
Pried from the grasp of an elder vampire, this is an abyssal blade of dark portent. Forged mostly of an ancient form of prevaldia, it radiates magical energy, channeled through several runes carved into its surface. Thus far, Elijah has only awakened a fraction of its capability. As of now, this sword provides the following effects:
-Acts as an arcane focus (like a wand or staff), improving the efficiency and accuracy of his spells by 50%
-Provides replenishing energy, allowing him to fully recharge all of his Signs once per day
-Absorbs half of all kinetic impact
[Acquisition: quest spoils from first FQ]
Rune Etched Gauntlets -- Prevaldia gauntlets enchanted to fuse with skin, allow full spellcasting and dexterity, and improve strength by half. [Acquisition: special purchase from first FQ]
Primal Beast of Tooth and Scale -- A deadly Ashkore lizard dragged forth from the Black Deserts, this mount is a horse-sized monstrosity of tooth and claw, scale and sinew, with the strength of a warhorse and the agility of a tiger. [Acquisition: bazaar purchase]
One Platinum-Plated Frost Wyrm Eye
Plucked from the skull of an ancient ice dragon in the far north, slain by Elijah’s own hands, this eye has been shrunken, preserved, and encased in a sphere of special metamorphic platinum. It is now a talisman about the size of a duck egg, worn on a chain. Elijah may activate this item once each day for up to an hour. Doing so inverts the nature of his Breath Sign, changing all the effects to equivalent frost, ice, and cold aligned powers. [Acquisition: 2nd place prize from the first AC, combined with the eye of the dragon slain in the first round of the same tournament]
~
Mundane Equipment:
Mithril sidesword (dueling sword)
Steel daggers
Cut resistant spidersilk shirt
High quality cooking gear
Riding gear
Pale Raiaeran Mare -- fast, light purebred riding horse.
Writing kit, journals, and parchment
A small library
Various arcane supplies and ingredients
Star charts
